After India Loses Dogfight to Pakistan, Questions Arise About Its ‘Vintage’ Military

NY Times ^ | March 3, 2019 | Maria Abi-Habib

[C19fan]

It was an inauspicious moment for a military the United States is banking on to help keep an expanding China in check. An Indian Air Force pilot found himself in a dogfight last week with a warplane from the Pakistani Air Force, and ended up a prisoner behind enemy lines for a brief time. The pilot made it home in one piece, however bruised and shaken, but the plane, an aging Soviet-era MiG-21, was less lucky. The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades, was a rare test for the Indian military — and it left observers a bit dumbfounded. While the challenges faced by the India’s armed forces are no secret, its loss of a plane last week to a country whose military is about half the size and receives a quarter of the funding was still telling.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“The IAF didn’t have a chance and should have known that before taking off.”

They must have thought that Pakistan’s main fighter was an unmodified F4.

[null and void]

Yeah, sort of: lot closer to Russia than us.

Russia, China, India and us must ally to destroy islam root and branch. Our survival as a sentient species will ultimately require it.

We can go back to hating each other later...

[AnotherUnixGeek]

India's military procurement process appears to be something out of a Monty Python sketch. They have more than enough money to buy themselves a modern fighter jet fleet, but they've been struggling to make a decision and a purchase for well over a decade now. Their attempts to build an indigenous fighter have taken over 40 years now, and their primitive home-made plane is still dependent on US engines.

All in all, a very unimpressive spectacle - the article is right, this is very discouraging for US hopes that India could serve as a regional counter-weight to China. India is a nation so choked by socialist bureaucracy that it can barely defend itself against a far smaller failed Islamic state on its border.

[null and void]

COUNTRIES DO NOT HAVE FRIENDS!!!

They have interests. We have interests in the area. So does Russia, China, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Japan, Australia...

[null and void]

See post #9

[null and void]

How much of this technological advantage did we gift to Pakistan?

If by "we" you mean the Clintons, obama and Iranian born Valerie Jarret, a whole piss-pot full!

[Haiku Guy]

India would consider itself to be “non-aligned”. They cooperate with both the Americans and the Russians. They have military equipment from all over the place.

Why they are throwing a Mig-21 into frontline combat is hard to understand. They have more capable aircraft at their disposal.

[sport]

That is why we help Pakistan and China. When have we helped our Allies?

[PghBaldy]

I wonder if a woman named “Maria Abi-Habib “ can be fair writing about India, which is despised by Muslims?

[Bigg Red]

:)

[Fiji Hill]

A dogfight between an F-16 and a MiG-21 today would be like one between a P-61 and a Nieuport 17 in 1945.

[null and void]

Why they are throwing a Mig-21 into frontline combat is hard to understand. They have more capable aircraft at their disposal.

One theory could be: A captured pilot can be a cause célèbre, mistreatment by the Pakistanis (virtually guaranteed) could have been used to stir up war fever in India.

Sometimes it just sucks to be a pawn, even in a shiny fighter jet.

The Pakis didn't play along.

Sometimes it doesn't...

[kearnyirish2]

“India is our ally”

I don’t think so; they consider themselves “non-aligned”.

[null and void]

Would you expect anything less from the NYT?

[DownInFlames]

The Boneyard should have enough to fill the order.

[dfwgator]

Can’t they just settle it with a good Cricket Test Match?

[dfwgator]

Non-Aligned, is an out-dated concept from The Cold War.

[Haiku Guy]

Wreckage

Indian Mig 21

Definitely wreckage of an Indian Mig 21. See the canopy bow with a tab in the middle. Also the rectangular door aft of the Indian rondel.

The rondel on the wreckage is a little further aft than this example, but there is a considerable amount of variation in the paint schemes of Indian military aircraft.

[Haiku Guy]

Also see the fairing aft of the rectangular door in this example, visible on the wreckage.

[kearnyirish2]

No, the “Cold War” just morphed from NATO/Warsaw Pact to US/Red China.